Ray Winstone explains the world of Darren Aronofsky's Noah. Robert Kirkman discusses The Walking Dead. Dane DeHaan reveals his training regimen for The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Tom Cruise rides a motorcycle in an All You Need Is Kill set video!

Spoilers from this point forward!

Top image from Star Trek Into Darkness.

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Star Trek Into Darkness

"I think we tapped into something in the first film that a lot of people weren't expecting, which is the emotional undercurrent and how powerfully it runs through him. That continues in this film. There are things that happen to him - and things that he's part of - that are incredibly personal.... That was really exciting for me both physically and emotionally."

And director J.J. Abrams discusses the decision to push back the movie's originally planned release date until the script was ready:

"It would have been better probably for the studio [if we'd put it out earlier], because it would have been fresher in people's minds. But I'm happy we didn't rush it. It wouldn't have been a better movie if it came out earlier, I know that."

Iron Man 3

Writer-director Shane Black discusses what to expect from Robert Downey, Jr.'s performance as Tony Stark this time around:

"Tony Stark is [now] relying on these suits to feel like he's in any way capable. He surrounds himself with these things almost like a blanket. In The Avengers, he fought aliens, but he was the one character I would not have picked to fight aliens. Now we've taken advantage of the fact that he's fought aliens and he talks about it... Robert's portrayal of Tony is ultimately the American cowboy who defies authority, thinks for himself and is fiercely individualistic. That's an America we like to believe in, which is why The Mandarin, who hates America, is a good match for Tony in this movie."

Speaking of the Mandarin, actor Ben Kingsley previews what to expect:

"A pastiche of American iconography. It's there to confuse - you don't know what's coming next. Shane allowed me to push the boundaries of the role so that I'm allow to go a bit bonkers."

It's also confirmed that the President, played by Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Fringe recurring player William Sadler, will give Don Cheadle's James Rhodes the new code name of Iron Patriot. Cheadle explains:

"The name makes as much sense as Iron Man," Cheadle laughed. "It's a new and interesting look. I don't know how, personally, I'd feel about being draped in the flag, but Rhodey doesn't care what the paint job is like. He just wants it to do what it does."

In terms of the long-term future of Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark, his current contract actually ends with this film, and while it's still probably a safe bet he will return for The Avengers 2, it sounds like Downey isn't making any promises about returning to the role beyond that:

"Let's just say that the only thing I ever let go of had claw marks in it. There's a little bit of soul reclamation going on. I feel that the first time I played Tony, I did it best. Sorry! The affinity with Tony now is: how do you sustain something? I'm not stupid, I like to play ball, I love the company, I love the character, and the business side of things, I'm not too picky about that either... [Being recast] would probably be the best thing in the world for me. You know, ego...but sometimes ego just has to be smashed. Let's see what happens. I take the audience very seriously - I feel bad when I see folks doing movies and the audience is like, 'Don't do that anymore.' I don't have to overstay my welcome..."

For his part, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige simply said "Tony's going to carry on — Avengers 2 already has a release date!", which leaves room for the role to be recast as soon as The Avengers 2, although I'd be surprised if Downey called it a day quite that early. [Empire Online via Comic Book Movie]

The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Chronicle star Dane DeHaan confirms he's bulking up for his role as Harry Osborn in the Amazing Spider-Man sequel:

We're already here, and I've been preparing. Right now it's just about getting all my work done and bulking up a little bit. I'll start shooting fairly soon in New York.

What are you doing to bulk up?
I work out incredibly intensely six days a week and I eat every two hours. Mostly proteins and veggies. I consume at least 3,000 calories a day. I've already gained seven pounds in six weeks!

That's not that much.
It is for me! I weigh more right now than I've ever weighed in my whole life. I've always constantly had trouble putting on weight, so it's actually a whole lot for me.

Noah

The Departed and Beowulf star Ray Winstone discusses his role as Tubal-cain, the antagonist to Russell Crowe's Noah in the epic biblical reimagining from Darren Aronofsky:

"The madness of Noah is a big thing. How do you look at someone who says, ‘I want to save all the animals in the world but not the people?' So it's kind of a double edged sword really. It's set in the days, it's set back in the time but you get that kind of vibe that it's all happened before, that humanity and civilization was there before as big as it is today. It's got that kind of ring to it as well... When I first heard about it, I said, ‘Is it Noah's Ark? We know what it's about. Russell's going to play Noah?' And I was laughing. Then I read the script. I understood it was Darren Aronofsky who was going to direct it which made me sit up. Then I read the script and I went, ‘Oh yeah, hold on a minute. This is really, really good.' His artwork is quite amazing on it as well."

Winstone's allusion to a cyclical approach to history is quasi-official confirmation that this is a post-apocalyptic take on Noah, which was first revealed in a French-language release of a graphic novel Aronofsky co-created to help sell the project to movie studios. [Crave Online]

All You Need Is Kill

Here's a set video of Tom Cruise filming his time-looped war movie. You can also check out some accompanying set photos here.

Green Lantern 2

After Green Lantern's somewhat underwhelming box office, there was still talk that a sequel might be forthcoming — but Sinestro actor Mark Strong says you shouldn't hold your breath. He told MTV, "I would be surprised if they made a second one because I've heard nothing about it in quite a while now." He also responded to criticisms of Sinestro putting on the yellow ring at the end of the first movie, saying:

A lot of people seemed to be confused by him putting on the ring at the end of the movie. They felt that it came out of nowhere. All it was, during the credits, there was a sequence which was a nod to where the trilogy was intending to head to. It wasn't ever meant to be part of the story of the first film... The putting on of the ring and the whole suit turning yellow would have been great fun.

After Earth

Here's a new synopsis for the post-apocalyptic epic from stars Will and Jaden Smith and director M. Night Shyamalan. Admittedly, that wouldn't generally be considered the most promising combination, but Shyamalan is sharing the scripting duties for this one with Traffic and Syriana writer Stephen Gaghan, so at least that's something. Anyway, to the synopsis:

A crash landing leaves teenager Kitai Raige (Jaden Smith) and his legendary father Cypher (Will Smith) stranded on Earth, 1,000 years after cataclysmic events forced humanity's escape. With Cypher critically injured, Kitai must embark on a perilous journey to signal for help, facing uncharted terrain, evolved animal species that now rule the planet, and an unstoppable alien creature that escaped during the crash. Father and son must learn to work together and trust one another if they want any chance of returning home.

Game of Thrones

Readers of A Storm of Swords already know to expect an... interesting storyline involving Sansa Stark and Tyrion Lannister. But in case you wondered if this will be prominent in season three, or how the show will approach it, Sansa actor Sophie Turner has some hints. She tells the Windsor Star that she shares a lot of screen time with Peter Dinklage:

I can tell you that Sansa kind of goes through this little roller coaster on season 3 emotionally, she kind of gets her hopes up a little at times and they kind of get crushed - as per (usual) pretty much, nothing much different. It's very emotionally testing for Sansa this season... Peter's such a cool guy, he's amazing to act alongside with and I think I've been really lucky in terms of having worked with Sean Bean closely - him being my dad, (Ned Stark) - and now Peter, I'm very lucky getting to work in scenes with these guys because they're big successful actors. Peter's comedic timing is amazing.

The Walking Dead

Comics creator Robert Kirkman offers his latest update, starting with just what Andrea was thinking when she held a knife over the Governor:

Well, I don't want to give too much away because there's some stuff coming up. I think that she was definitely considering it or she wouldn't have been there. You know, I think killing someone that close up, a human being, with a knife, that's one thing that is still sort of a bridge too far for [many] people in this universe. It's important to note that these people are killing zombies left and right all day long and some of them are crossing over that line to killing people. But I don't think Andrea has quite gotten there just yet.

That scene seemed to have obvious cliffhanger potential. Were you tempted to end the show with Andrea standing over the Governor?
There's always that kind of temptation to leave things are a little big more cliffhangery. I know that I do that quite a bit in the comic. But I think it's enough that she was there, that that scene happened. You don't want to come back next week following up a bit of business from that episode. It's something that we do in the comics but I don't know that it works quite as well on the TV show, to open an episode with previous business that may or not fit thematically with what's going on in the episode. I think when people see episode 12 - which is a really cool, almost vignette side story episode that I don't want to give too much away about - they'll see that kind of thing wouldn't have carried over very well.

Once Upon a Time

Supernatural

In recognition of his growing importance to the show's ongoing storyline, Misha Collins has been re-promoted to "series regular" status for season nine. [TV Line]

The Vampire Diaries

Showrunner Julie Plec discusses what's ahead for the characters, starting with whether Elena, Damon, or Stefon even want to find the cure at this point:

Ultimately, the race for the cure has sort of been channeled into the race to find Katherine. Klaus doesn't know if Katherine's going to use it against him [to kill him] or use it as leverage to get her freedom, but he doesn't really like option A, so he's got a lot of concerns. Rebekah, of course, still very much wants to be human, and we're going to just keep exploring that more and more as she gets closer to finding Katherine.

What's in it for Stefan and Damon at this point?
The question for the boys is always "How do we help Elena through this?" If they have an easy time of it, then the cure isn't necessarily the first thing on their minds, but I can tell you, Elena's situation right now is not going to be the prettiest thing. It doesn't go so well. Elena is not going to be the best-behaved humanity-free vampire in town. The cure kind of comes back into play for the boys as a method to fix her. The irony is that their arguments over whether or not to fix her at the beginning of the season come full circle back around to "How do we fix this version of her, and should we?"

Can Elena and Damon sustain any kind of romance with her humanity gone? Is that even on the table?
Well, the first question is, what does she feel, if anything? And who does she feel it for, if anything? And where does she stand with Damon? Poor Damon, the big, lingering question that he's been feeling from the beginning is "Is this love that she feels for me real?" He doesn't believe it's real because he doesn't believe he deserves it, and he doesn't believe he can be happy, but he wants so desperately to know. Now we're in a predicament where she's not really feeling anything at all.

Being Human (UK)

Here's a preview for the fifth episode, entitled "No Care, All Responsibility." [Cultfix]

Lost Girl

Here's a description for episode eight, "Fae-ge Against the Machine":

What was meant as a much-needed night off for Bo grows into a scavenger hunt in a lawless Dark Fae territory. In Bo's absence, Trick is placed in a precarious position with potentially dire consequences.